MORGAN HILL, Calif. -- When talking to Rick Maida, don't make the mistake of calling his collection of radio-controlled planes a hobby.

"It's not a hobby. It's my life. It has been since I was 8 years old."

SLIDESHOW: South Bay Man's RC Airplanes Stolen

Unfortunately for Maida, his 'life' is now missing; stolen from outside his Morgan Hill home Monday night. Maida woke Tuesday morning to find a trailer, holding the most prized pieces of his collection, had been taken during the night. "I'm still numb from the whole thing," he said.

Maida, 51, is a passionate builder, collector, and pilot of large-scale, radio-controlled, or “RC,” airplanes. He is well known throughout California for his collection, including a scale replica of a World War I Fleet Finch biplane. The model plane has a wingspan of 10 feet.

Maida said he had just flown that plane, as well as many others from his collection, at an RC airplane show in Salinas over the weekend. He returned home Monday night and parked the trailer, with his planes, outside his home. He planned on taking the trailer to a secure storage space on Tuesday.

The trailer, which Maida described as "plain, white, nondescript," contained two complete RC planes, and the wings of eight others. He said losing the wings is just as devastating as losing an entire plane, as they make up roughly 60 percent of the aircraft.

Asked the value of what was stolen, Maida said, “The material alone cost $30,000, but the time and effort I put in over years and years makes them priceless.”

Maida speculates that whoever stole the trailer had no idea what was inside when they took it. A friend of Maida’s, Terry Palmer, said the thief might have difficulty selling the planes because, within the RC airplane community, Maida’s collection is very well know.

Here is a partial list of what Maida said was stolen:

- A World War I Fleet Finch Biplane with a wingspan of 120 inches

- A Focke-Wulf Fw 190 with an 86 inch wingspan

- The 102 inch wing to a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk.

- The 98 inch wing to a Grumman F6F Hellcat

- The 108 inch wing to a Chance Vought F4U Corsair